Larry’s Top Three Aches and Pains – Part 2

By Larry Foss, US National Team, owner The Fix Active Body Massage, specializing in sports massage, bike fitting and FaCT lactate testing.

[ed. miss part 1? read it here]

The second most common complaint I hear is about sore backs, upper or lower.

Lower back soreness is usually in part due to a bike that has the handlebars setup in a position that is to low which in turn can lead to the muscles of the lower back being overstretched into an elongated position thus causing them to be over worked. Another reason is inflexibility of the same muscles.

I have had a lot of luck with starting newer riders in a more upright position. Then slowly after the body adjusts and strengthens you can begin to lower the bars.

There is a cost to being a bit more upright. You are not as aerodynamic but unless you are racing to win I will sacrifice being aero for comfort!! I can tell you that with the pressures of travel and running a business I am nowhere close to being as aero as I once was but I am comfortable and about 4 centimeters taller in the bars.

When a rider is fit on the bike properly the angle between the torso and the arms reaching out should be and about 90 degrees with the lower arms with a slight bend and never locked out at the elbows.

Also there should be a balance of the body weight between the behind and the hands. When looking down at the front wheel when riding the handlebars should obscure the hub of the front wheel. It is usually a fairly simple fix of the problem by changing into a stem length that is the appropriate length to get the 90 degree angle and the front hub hidden.

It is also possible the frame itself may have a top tube that is too long. If that is the case you may want to think about buying a new frame. With most newer model stems that are 2 or 4 bolt end caps the change is a simple easy change to get the stem to the proper length.